


Mama Bear

by gottabekiddinme



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: But not the X-Men, Family, Gen, Mutants, or ignoring it completely, playing fast and loose with canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-31
Updated: 2013-03-19
Packaged: 2017-11-27 17:33:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/664611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gottabekiddinme/pseuds/gottabekiddinme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You I trust. Them I'm not so sure about." "You said the same thing when you taught me to drive." Sometimes you just need your mom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This has been languishing on ff.net for a while now. If it's here, maybe I'll actually finish it.

All civilians were supposed to be outside the perimeter, but the dark haired woman was running towards them anyway. Captain America took a breath to shout at her, but the words died in his throat when she picked up an abandoned car – picked it up, as if it were made of cardboard – and threw it at a group of Chitauri.

It took out three of them.

She kept running and came to a stop in front of the group as if she had just done nothing more remarkable than swatting a few flies.

"Is this a private party, or can anybody join in?"

The Captain blinked. "Ah…" she was a good eight inches shorter than him, and nothing about her indicated the strength he had just seen. She was most definitely a civilian, too – her T-shirt, jeans and sneakers were definitely not SHIELD standard issue. "I don't think –"

"Sir, we need all the firepower we can get." Black Widow interrupted.

"But she's a civilian –"

"Barely, Captain." The woman turned to the Widow and Hawkeye. "Code name Unbreakable. I assume that means something to you?"

Both assassins nodded. "Captain, if half the stories we've heard are true…"

"They are."

"Then we definitely want her." Hawkeye finished.

Iron Man was looking intently at her. At least, he was looking. Nobody could see his expression behind the faceplate. "I know you from somewhere, don't I?"

Unbreakable smirked. "It'll come to you." She looked around. "I don't think we have time for further introductions. Orders, sir?"

The Captain nodded. "First off, what can you do?"

"I'm a beta-level mutant." She noted his confusion, ignored it and continued. "I have some basic superpowers – strength, invulnerability, and flight."

"Any weapons?"

She glanced around at the Chitauri. "I can get one."

He nodded. "All right. Barton, I want you on that roof." He pointed. "Eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, Unbreakable, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."

She was gone before Hawkeye finished asking Iron Man for a ride.

They all kept catching glimpses of her throughout the battle; she started out mostly throwing things, but at some point got her hands on a Chitauri weapon and learned to use it very quickly. Unfortunately she had no comm, and so was unaware of the missile situation until she landed between the Captain and Thor. "What's going on?"

"SHIELD ordered a nuclear strike. Stark is redirecting the missile."

"What?" She pointed at the portal. "Through that?"

"Yes."

"But that goes straight through to deep space."

"Yes."

"He'll die!"

The Captain sighed. "He's lying down on the wire."

She huffed. "If you just cut the wire everybody gets through."

He stared at her for a moment, then turned his attention back to the portal. When it seemed that Iron Man wasn't coming back, he gave the order to close it.

Then he heard Unbreakable shriek, "Tony!"

Iron Man was falling, and Thor wasn't the only one to notice that he wasn't slowing down. Unbreakable shot off the ground only to be knocked out of the way by the Hulk, who caught his friend and brought him down to earth. After the faceplate was torn off though, it was Unbreakable who started running her fingers over his face, brushing them through his hair, checking for a pulse at his neck and whispering, "Come on, kiddo, wake up. Come back, Tony."

His eyes didn't open until the Hulk roared. "Please tell me nobody kissed me." She laughed, and his eyes narrowed, then widened in recognition. "Lucy?"

"Took you long enough." She tweaked his nose. "But under the circumstances I'll give it a pass."

"But…wait…you look the same as you did when I was what, eight?"

She laughed again. "Please, do you really think you ever once had a normal babysitter?"

"Babysitter?"

She waved a hand. "Later, Captain."

"You ever try shawarma?" They all stared at Tony. "There's a shawarma place about three blocks away. I don't know what it is but I want to try it."

Thor chuckled. None of them had ever realized how sad laughter could sound. "We are not finished yet."

"Right. Shawarma after?"

 

*At the tower*

 

"Guy's got cojones." The others glanced at Unbreakable, except for Barton, who kept his eyes on Loki. "What? It takes balls of steel to ask for a drink with a gun, an arrow and a Hulk all aimed at you." She turned to Tony. "I need to make a phone call."

He nodded. "JARVIS?"

"Who may I call for you, madam?"

She raised her eyebrows at Tony. "AI, hmm? Impressive." He grinned at her. "I need a direct line to Nick Fury, please, JARVIS."

Fury answered before the end of the first ring. "Fury."

"Hello Nick."

"Lucy."

"We have a prisoner here for you. On what's left of the top floor of Stark tower."

"I'll send a jet."

"Do that. And Nick," she paused, took a deep breath, and asked. "Where is my son?"

Fury didn't answer right away. Then he sighed. "I'm afraid I have some bad news for you, Mrs. Coulson."


	2. Chapter 2

"Bad news?" Lucy went still. "What do you mean, bad news?"

There was silence on the line for a little while. Fury cleared his throat. "Mrs. Coulson, I'm afraid your son…well…"

The Captain stepped over to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm afraid he was killed in the line of duty, ma'am."

She blinked. "Killed."

He nodded. She shook her head. "I'm sorry."

"Nick, go to the morgue" she almost choked on the word "or the medical bay or wherever he is and you check his pulse again."

"Lucy –"

"Just do it." Tears started to spill over.

"I saw-" They could hear Fury moving.

"I said do it."

The line was quiet for a while. She shrugged Steve's hand off and stepped away, but when Tony walked over and hugged her, she hugged him back. "I'm so proud of you, kid."

He hugged her tighter. "I'm sorry, Lucy." She shook her head again.

Fury came back on the line. "Mrs. Coulson?"

She sighed. "Yes, Nick?"

"Would you care to explain how it is that a man who has been stabbed through the heart – a man I watched die – is currently breathing?"

Her grin lit up her whole face. "Let's just say he takes after his mom."

"You mean Phil is a mutant and he never told me?"

"He's never told anyone. I told him to keep it a secret when he was a kid, I guess he listened to me at least once."

"I have to say, it's a welcome surprise. He's breathing and he has a pulse – slow, but it's there. We're moving him to medical right now."

The Avengers just stood there in shock for a moment.

Tony was the first to react, letting out a whoop and drawing Lucy into another hug, this one bone crushing. Clint was grinning, his arrow still trained on Loki, while Thor and Natasha tried to explain to the Hulk what was going on. He seemed to understand, because he smiled and let out a roar that could only be described as happy.

Steve was trying to wrap his head around it.

"He's alive?"

"He is. And this time the medical team's going to make sure he stays that way."

"If they have any questions, tell them to ask me." Lucy called.

The Captain smiled and started muttering about getting him some new trading cards. Natasha laughed and slapped him on the shoulder.

"Nick," Lucy wriggled out of Tony's embrace. "Would you care to tell me exactly who is responsible for Philip's current condition?"

"With pleasure. Your prisoner."

She turned to stare at Loki. "I see. And he is?"

"Loki."

"Loki. The Norse god?"

"The very same."

She nodded and started walking towards him. "Well, Loki, god or man or whatever you are, you're a very lucky one." She stopped in front of him "Because if my son were a little less like me," She leaned over and grabbed him by the collar with both hands "I would let you hit the ground."

Before anyone could react, she heaved him out the window.

After a moment, she took off after him only to reappear just outside, holding him by the collar again. Thor looked about to protest, but before he could, she dropped Loki and dove after him again.

Clint slid his arrow back into his quiver, looking a little disappointed.

"Should one of us, maybe…." Tony paused as Lucy dropped Loki a third time. "Stop her?"

"You want to try?" Natasha raised an eyebrow.

Fury's voice came over the line again. "Someone tell her I want her on the helicarrier for the debriefing. And don't let her kill the prisoner."


	3. Chapter 3

Steve walked into the medical bay to find half his team screaming at the personnel. Natasha was standing in front of Clint, yelling at a nurse about brainwashing while Clint stared at the floor, arms folded and shoulders hunched. Tony was denouncing the facilities as inadequate while Bruce, tired and still a little green, quietly agreed with him. Thor simply demanded, loudly and repeatedly, to see the Son of Coul.

Lucy was in a shouting match with the head nurse, who didn't seem to believe that she was in fact Phil's mother. Her fists were clenched and Steve could see her shifting her weight, preparing to start throwing punches.

"Enough." Fury didn't yell, but there was an authority in his voice that shut everyone up. "Nurse Dowsett, this woman is in fact Coulson's mother and is therefore authorized to see him, unless his doctor says otherwise."

The doctor in question slipped out of Phil's room, probably drawn by the sudden quiet. He looked at Lucy. "You're his mother?"

She nodded.

"To be honest, I haven't worked with many mutants. What can you tell me, what are his powers?"

"He's actually only got one. His healing factor is impressive even to other mutants. Not as good as Wolverine's but good enough to keep him alive when he should be dead."

"Yes, there isn't much for me to do except medicate him." He frowned. "Will the painkillers work, or –"

"They work." She confirmed. "Can I see him?"

"He's asleep."

"I don't care."

Phil was asleep for the next week and there was always at least one Avenger in the room. There was some concern about Clint at first, but Lucy informed SHIELD at large and medical in particular that even though she had left the agency, she still retained both her authority and her clearance and Barton was now her asset so back off.

When he wasn't working on his armour or the Carrier, Tony spent a lot of his time in medical with Lucy, making sure she ate and slept and catching up on a few decades of lost time.

"I didn't even know you had a kid. Never made the connection to Agent, either."

"I'm not sure I ever told you my last name. And Philip is three years older than you, what nine year old wants to hang out with a six year old, no matter how smart they are?"

"Still." Tony grumbled, looking at Phil's still face. "Seems like a waste."

Steve found himself in the med bay more often than he was anywhere else. Eventually he stopped leaving whenever Tony came in and starting sketching instead, trying to capture the side of Tony that only Lucy seemed able to bring out. When Steve asked her about it, she smiled sadly.

"You can blame Howard for that."

"Howard?"

"He was a friend of yours, wasn't he."

"Wasn't he yours too?"

"No, not really. I didn't actually know him well." She bit her lip. "He was a brilliant man."

"I know."

"But a lousy father." Lucy gave him a sad smile. "I don't think he meant to be, I doubt he ever deliberately…" She sighed. "Just, don't expect Tony to be like Howard. And don't try to bond with him over Howard either. It's…well it's complicated. There are a lot of feelings involved there. Some of them aren't exactly good."

Steve nodded and turned back to his drawing.

"I understand you were an art student?"

"Well. Art kind of went out the window when the war started."

"A lot of things did." She was giving him a measuring look. "It hasn't clicked yet, has it."

"What?"

"How old I must be." She nodded at the bed, at the son that looked older than her.

Steve paused and looked up at her. "Now that you mention it. But then, I'm a lot older than I look myself."

Lucy smiled. "Sixteen." She blinked, surprised at what she had said. "I mean, I was sixteen. When – when you crashed. I remember the war." She looked away. "I remember you."

He opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by a groan.

Lucy darted to Phil's side and took his hand. "Philip?"

Phil slowly opened his eyes. "Mom?"

"Morning, Baby."

He groaned again.

"Hey, you died on me. I get to call you whatever I want. In front of whoever I want."

"Who – " He turned his head and saw Steve. "Captain?"

"Hi, Phil." Steve grinned. "I, uh…I watched you while you were sleeping."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here on out, updates will be better written (IMO), possibly longer, and irregular.


	4. Chapter 4

The news that Phil was awake spread quickly. His first visitors were Director Fury and Agent Hill, followed closely by Tony, who stood in the corner of the room with his arms folded and a gleam in his eyes. 

Fury narrowed his own eye. “What do you want, Stark?”

He shrugged. “I want to see Phil, is all.”

Hill raised her eyebrows. “Really.” 

“And,” Tony started to smile. “I wanted to give him these.” He pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it onto Phil’s lap.

Steve raised his own eyebrows when he saw what it was. Phil’s trading cards. 

Phil picked them up. “What happened to these?"

Steve frowned. “They were in your –“

“My locker. They were in my locker.” He looked up. “Why are they covered in blood?” 

Lucy, still sitting beside the bed, reached out a shaky hand and picked one up. “Nick.”

Fury sighed. “They needed –“

“You used my son to manipulate them?”

“I-“

“My SON.” She looked up and glared at him. “My DYING SON. And then you destroyed his property.”

“There’s a complete set for sale on ebay.” Hill said quietly, a look of satisfaction in her eye as she raised her eyebrows at Fury.

“Two.” Lucy ground out. “Two sets.”

Hill blinked. “Two?”

“You didn’t notice there were duplicates?” Phil sighed.

“I wondered where mine went.” Lucy muttered. 

“When we found him,” Phil ran a hand over his face. “I went to visit Mom. I swiped her set so I could get hers autographed too.”

“You still have the cards?” Tony asked.

Lucy frowned. “Well I did.” She stood and thrust the card at Fury. “Two sets. Same condition or better, and you’re paying. Out of your own pocket.”

Fury opened his mouth only to be interrupted by the PA system. “Director Fury, we need you on the bridge.”

He looked up at the speaker, then at Lucy, then at Phil. He sighed. “We’ll discuss this later.” Fury swept out of the room, followed by Hill.

“You know,” Tony said hesitantly, “I could just give you my set.” 

Steve stared at him. “You have them?” 

“No, Sparks, I want Nick to have to find them.” Lucy smiled slightly as he blushed at the nickname. “Although if you wanted to sell him Howard’s set – at a completely ridiculous price…” She sighed and ran her hands through her hair. “Coffee. I need coffee.” She gave Phil’s shoulder a squeeze and left the room.

Tony, after some brief hesitation and a glance at Steve, went to the side of the bed and sat in Lucy’s chair. “Why didn’t you tell me?” 

Phil snorted. “Sure. ‘Tell me all about Afghanistan, Mr. Stark, and by the way, my mom used to babysit you.’” 

“You could have started with ‘I’m Lucy’s son’.” Tony sighed. “I – you know I didn't have a great relationship with my parents, right?”

Steve paused in his drawing.

“Lucy…your mom, she…meant a lot to me. Still does, actually. You know she still writes me letters?”

Phil nodded. “She’s the only person I know who still writes actual paper letters.” He smiled. “You mean a lot to her, too.”

Steve took this as his cue to leave. As he stepped into the hall he heard Phil tell Tony, “She went looking for you, you know.”

Steve paused by the door, hoping to hear more even though he knew it wasn’t his business. 

“She did?”

“I don’t think she’s forgiven herself for not finding you before you had to escape.”

Steve spotted Lucy coming back down the hall, nursing her coffee, and, startled, he stepped further away from the door.

“They talking in there?”

“About you, actually.”

She shrugged. “I’m something they have in common.”

“Phil told Tony you went looking for him?”

She paused mid sip. “In Afghanistan.” She nodded. “Yes, I did. I was ready to search the place stone by stone.”

“But you didn’t.”

“I actually wonder how differently things would have turned out if I had.” She was reaching for the door when Agent Hill came rushing down the hallway.

“Mrs. Coulson, Director Fury wants you to come to the bridge. You too, Captain.”

***

“Is that a robot?” Steve blinked.

“Yes.” Fury stared at the video. "Stomping all over what’s left of Manhattan.”

It was human shaped, three stories high and looking for something. As they watched, it lifted a hand to send an energy bolt towards a group of fleeing recovery workers and said in a bone –chilling, mechanized voice, “MUTANT DETECTED.”

Fury turned to Lucy. “You know what this thing is?”

She nodded. “I’m gonna need some backup.”

“I don’t want you going after that thing.”

“Nick, if I don’t go after it it will come after me.” She started for the flight deck. “Send Iron Man. And evacuate the street.”

“Why Iron Man?”

“I need another flier!”

***

The trouble with working crowd control wasn’t actually the crowd. This particular group – mostly rescue workers – was generally smart enough to recognize that it would be in their best interest to cooperate. There were no hysterics and no frightened children, just adults who saw a homicidal robot and listened when they were told to leave.

No, the real problem was that he couldn’t see the fight. He could HEAR it – Iron Man’s repulsors sounded laughably weak against the loud blasts from the robot – but he had no idea how it was going until the robot blasted a wall to his right and he turned to watch. 

Iron Man was in front of the robot, trying to draw its attention away from Unbreakable and failing. The robot seemed to be designed to attack mutants, and it was intent on capturing the one mutant within reach. Steve glanced around to make sure the immediate area was empty before whipping his shield off and letting it fly, hitting the robot in the side of the head. It turned to look toward him and Unbreakable took the opening, coming in to land at the back of its neck. She plunged her hands into the joint and pulled at the wiring. Her hands were barely clear of the metal before its head simply…crumpled.

Unbreakable looked up sharply, then pushed off the neck and hovered, wires still in her hands. After a moment, the robot’s chest caved in and it began to pitch forward. 

“Everybody out of the way!” At Unbreakable’s shout, Iron Man darted to pick up the Captain while the few remaining civilians bolted. 

As the robot fell, more and more pieces of it crumpled – a hand, a knee joint, a shoulder. Finally it fell onto its face in the street.

Unbreakable and Iron Man, Captain in tow, landed on the curb. Iron Man turned to Unbreakable and flipped up his faceplate. “What was that thing?”

“Sentinel.”

“A what?”

“They started showing up a few years ago. They’re designed to track and capture or kill mutants.”

“Where’d they come from?”

She shook her head. “You’d have to ask Charles.”

“Charles?”

“What happened to it?” Steve interrupted.

She turned and started scanning the crowd of civilians making their way back. “Erik.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea when the next one is coming - I need to dig out my notes, which would be easier if my room was less of a disaster area and I knew where my fanfic papers were...

**Author's Note:**

> Well where did YOU think Phil got the awesome from?


End file.
